Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Dummy's favourite Swedish/French cult band Envelopes have made their fantastic new album available to download as a super cool widget that sits on your desktop and streams the album until you fall in love with it so much that you buy the CD. For the luddites among you the album is available from all good record shops from February 18th with a single 'Party' out the week before.

If you read our feature on Ebony Bones in Issue 6 of Dummy magazine then you will already know that we like her a lot. Well by way of mutual appreciation she is showing us a little love back by giving us her ace 'We Know All About You' as a free download.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

With Justice having just announced a huge US tour with a headline show at Madison Square Garden we thought we would re-print our Justice cover feature from Dummy's Summer 2007 issue. Enjoy...

French duo JUSTICE make hard’n’heavy dance music. They also make pop tunes. Ifthat sounds like Daft Punk, they’re flattered, but unconvinced. Anyone could havedone it, they reckon. Don’t believe a word of it. John Burgess meets the future of dance music…

Saturday 28 April, Coachella. In two hours, Justice are dueto play in front of 12,000 people in the Californian desert.Things aren’t going according to plan. The paint is stilldrying on their stage set, built in LA for this, their firstappearance at the festival. In a hotel room nearby, GaspardAuge and Xavier de Rosnay are hunched over their computersworking on their music with furrowed brows and trying to getto grips with a new software package. The young Parisiens oftenleave things to the last minute, but this is ridiculous. Hasanyone seen the manual?

Their stage set, nicknamed Valentine, is a model of a huge,60s-style synth. It spews forth a mess of wires and is festoonedwith flashing lights. It looks like it needs men in white coats tooperate it.Valentine is flanked by Marshall amps, nine per side,in huge stacks that even Mötley Crüe would regard as perhaps alittle too much. In the middle is “the third member of Justice”,a crucifix beaming out white light.

When Justice take to the stage, the set seems to overwhelmXavier, who is all but invisible on account of his short stature.Later, he confesses to being worried throughout the gig. “Wewere in such a panic state. I think there were two or threemistakes, but no one noticed. It was like a big rehearsal in theend.What else did we learn? That maybe I will need to wearstilettos if I want to be seen.”

If it’s a big rehearsal, it goes very well indeed. The crowdlose it to Justice’s crunching synth rock. A long-haired, shirtlessdude pressed up against the stage is headbanging, kids makethe devil sign with their hands, others cross their glowstickstogether, while some have come better prepared with styrofoamcrucifixes. It looks like a battle of good against evil.Thensomeone starts crowdsurfing. Justice may make their music onlaptops, not Flying Vs, but they undoubtedly rock.

“We were not really ready but it was fun,” concludes Xavier,lighting the umpteenth cigarette of a particularly nerveshreddingday. He’s stick thin, his tight white jeans and tighterblack leather jacket accentuate his pipecleaner frame. Despitebeing 24, and sporting simian-like sideboards, he could pass fora teen and gets asked for his ID every time he tries to buy adrink in LA. He’s witty and unfeasibly polite. Like his partnerhe is the type of well-brought-up young man any girlfriendwould be happy to introduce to her parents. Meanwhile,Gaspard is shy, quiet, tall, a year older than Xavier and has aporn-star style handlebar moustache. A dangling crucifix shinesagainst his jet black shirt making him look more like TonyIommi of Black Sabbath than one half of the hottest electronicband on the planet.

Justice earned that sobriquet with two landmark releases:2003’s Never Be Alone and 2005’s Waters Of Nazareth. Sincethen they’ve been christened the ‘new Daft Punk’ by a hopefulmusic press, an accolade that they will have to live up to ormodestly disregard. Does the comparison to one of the mostimportant dance acts to emerge from the ’90s hold weight?Like Daft Punk, Justice were conceived in their teens. Theyboth share the same manager – Pedro Winter, MD of EdBanger records. They both released scene-defining earlysingles. They both understand the appeal of style, mystique andspectacle. Are Daft Punk really in those robot suits? AreJustice’s Marshall amps really plugged in? They both use rockaesthetics and as a result possess an appeal beyond theconfines of the electronic dance geek. They’re, er, both Frenchand there’s more than one and less than three of them. Theirdebut album, †, is certainly surrounded by the same level ofanticipation that preceded Daft Punk’s 1997 debut Homework.Meanwhile, Waters Of Nazareth, their first proper single, is asgenre-busting as Da Funk, Daft Punk’s debut single from1996. In fact, † has more in common with Daft Punk’s secondalbum, Discovery. It features as many pop moments as it doesgnarly rave, of which Stress and DVNO will find favour with thethrill seekers. There are as many nods to ’70s soft rockersSteely Dan and “George Michael white boy funk”, as theywould have it, as there are to acid house. Xavier agrees, “Someof the tracks are club friendly but there is some late nightmusic you can listen to with your lady or guy, and there issome pop. Most tracks are pop, everything is quite short.”

Monday 7 May, Paris.

We are sat in a restaurant near Justice’s studio. Or rather in a small room adjacent to the kitchen, the sort of exclusive space Jack Nicholsonwould be whisked straight to were he to appear unannounced atthe door. “That would be unlikely,” says Xavier. “This is arestaurant for straight-to-DVD actors.” He gestures to thesigned photos of the city’s C-list on the walls.Why do Justiceget the special treatment? “Maybe they think we are pop stars.They shake our hands when we come in now. And they willreally think we are after this.” He points his steak knife to mymicrophone. Gaspard is quiet, pondering a huge plate piledhigh with crustaceons. Xavier makes fun of his pencil case-styleman-purse. “He loves cheap things from the flea market. Hisroom is like a ’70s museum. It’s full of video games that don’twork.” Gaspard responds: “Sometimes when I go to bed I speakto them and ask, ‘How was your day?’” If Xavier has a quirk, itis his love for red meat.We met for a breakfast interview inDecember 2005 and I counted five different kinds of flesh onhis plate, including black pudding. “I also like horse,” he grinssheepishly. “But I know it’s repulsive to mention in thecompany of people you don’t know too well.” He steers his gazewell away from Dummy’s vegetarian photographer.

Xavier and Gaspard grew up in middle class Parisiansuburbs. Xavier’s Mum is a dentist, his father works in ahospital “finding practical solutions to make people happy” hesays failing to find the English word for the profession. Gaspardcomes from a more artful background. His mother is a curatorfor an art museum, his father an actor. Neither’s parents aremusic lovers. “They maybe buy an album a year.” Heavy metallover Gaspard, whose love for electronic music stems from earlyWarp releases, plays drums and piano. Xavier grew up withpop, hip hop and the first wave of French house and favoursguitar and bass though neither are adept enough at any of theirinstruments to consider performing with them live.They met briefly at a party in 2003. They struggle to findanything interesting to say about this. Their second meeting issomewhat funnier and “perhaps a bit gay”. Gaspard went tomeet a girl at his old school gates. Instead he left with Xavier,who emerged first, and they went to a pawn shop and beganrooting through vintage records. “It was a really depressingplace, where people go to sell their wedding rings.We had nomoney but went to buy classical music on vinyl and cheapsynths. This was the beginning of our friendship.” And whathappened to the girl? “I think she waited for half an houroutside the school gates.”

They moved in together soon after and claim to only argueabout small things; “What are you doing leaving your socks onthe ground? That kind of thing.” They also share an addictionto cigarettes and coffee. They worked for 350 days on thealbum and after doing some quick maths concluded that theyhad smoked over 30,000 cigarettes and drank 25,000 expressosin that time.

Justice initially formed for a French concept album. Theywere asked by a friend at Poplane Records to contribute a songto a compilation called Musclorvision: Hits Up ToYou! Theconcept? The bands had to pretend they were taking part in theEurovision song contest. Their effort, Sure You Will, sounds likeThe Doobie Brothers crossed with early Prince. Either that or abad Phoenix. Their second record was rather better. The bandSimian, about to flounder and split after their second album,threw a competition from their website to remix the title track,We Are Your Friends. Justice’s effort revolved around the chorus –a call to arms if ever there was one – and they gave it theFrench house treatment: prominent bassline, melodic hook.Their entry failed to win – Simian can’t remember who did –but it caught the attention of Daft Punk’s manager, PedroWinter who was about to launch his own label, Ed Banger. Hesigned their Simian remix, called Never Be Alone. It was EdBanger’s second release and was subsequently licensed toInternational Deejay Gigolos and remixed by DJ Hell. Still, itremained a cult hit until 2005, when it took on a life of its own,becoming an anthem for a new wave of indie dance clubsspreading across the UK and capturing the imagination ofhipster promoters and DJs who wanted someone to go beyond the dance flirtations of Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand. If ever there was a record waiting for a club scene to happen, then this was it.

During 2005, Winter busied Justice with some high profileremixes for Britney Spears and Daft Punk and, furtherendearing themselves to the indie kids, Franz Ferdinand,Soulwax and Mystery Jets. It was in the summer that Ed Bangersent the first ‘proper’ Justice release to DJs. Waters Of Nazarethwas a shock for fans of Never Be Alone. Musically it was rough,noisy and distorted, lacking Never Be Alone’s melodic sheen andagreeable funkiness. Even Winter was unsure when he firstheard it. “We played Waters of Nazareth at Fabric,” Xavierrecalls. “And we turned to Pedro and said, This is it. It wasn’tuntil the organ came in and everyone’s hands went up in the airthat he seemed to like it.” The church organ part, which cutsthrough the noise and floats across the wayward bass half waythrough, provides a thrilling moment but also inspired an imagefor the band. On their MySpace in late 2005 they describedthemselves as “electro-Christian-club” and used a crucifix as alogo. Have they ever received any flak? Xavier takes another biteof steak and looks thoughtful. “Eighty percent of France isChristian. My Dad was a bit uncertain and thought it was badtaste, but I was like, This is what I want to do Dad. It’s oddbecause in America we have received support from Christiangroups thanking us for spreading the word.We do not invert thecross and I suppose they think we look like nice guys so therehas not been a problem.”

In an interview I did for Dummy in 2005, Justice said thatthey wanted a strong concept for each record they put out andwith this one they wanted to keep people guessing, Are theyChristian? Are they Satanist? “Bowie and the Beatles alwayschanged their faces. If we’d just put out a record that waselectro with some rock influences then people would not thinkit particularly interesting.”They were wrong. Waters of Nazarethinfluenced a new generation of producers keener to use a laptopthan guitars to make a racket. “Every week our friends inLondon would point us to another MySpace site with a trackon their player that sounded a bit like us, a bit distorted.”Xavier laughs. But he’s being too modest when he says: “It’s notdifficult. Anyone can just push the distortion button as we did.”We leave the restaurant and make for their studio,situated in a nightclub basement. We have to walkthrough a maze of rooms and corridors poorly lit bystrip lights. One area looks like a serial killer’s lair – oldclippings of naked girls from 70s Playboy magazines arepeeling from a wall and Blair Witch like hand prints cover anarea of another. There are disgarded sofas and what looks likea meeting area for international terrorists – a circular table litby a shade-less bulb with mismatched chairs surrounding it.We reach our destination. Inside, the brickwork is paintedwhite, there’s a sofa-bed strewn with international magazines,an overused coffee maker and the MTV award they won forthe video for the 2006 re-release of Never Be Alone, which wasre-named We Are Your Friends. (KanyeWest turned the spotlighton the band when he stormed the stage in a huff claiming theMTV award was rightfully his because his Touch The Sky video“cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it and I wasjumping across canyons.”) It’s close to midnight and Xavierand Gaspard start tinkering away on their live set for a secretshow they have planned for London’s Fabric the followingweek. They will work through until 7am. An Emo doll fromSesame Street watches over them. Perhaps this was theinspiration for their new single, D.A.N.C.E, which features thevocals by an eight-year-old and sounds like something fromThe Muppet Show.

Justice’s pop side is well known to fans who have heardthem DJ.When they first began getting bookings in the UK in2005 their sets were steeped in cheese – Wham’s Wham! Rap, ILike To Move It by The Mad Stuntman, Gonna Make You Sweatby C&C Music Factory and The Ronettes Be My Baby oftenfeatured. “That’s what we like to play,” they say with a shrug.“We still keep some time at the end of our sets to play pop. It’smuch more fun after seven hours of rave torture to playsomething like The Cardigans Love Fool.” The latter’s whitedisco groove informs The Party from the album, which features Uffie, but their shot at a top ten single remains D.A.N.C.E.. It’s both a homage to a gospel song called Stand On The Word by the Celestial Choir, which legendary disco DJ Larry Levan used toplay at New York nightclub The Paradise Garage in the late’70s,and to the King Of Pop Michael Jackson – it features titles ofJackson hits throughout. It’s nothing like Waters Of Nazareth.When I first heard it, I thought it was too sweet. It has since,like any good pop record, grown on me.

“Then we have failed. It is supposed to be immediate,”Xavier says. “We were trying to make a simple tribute toMichael Jackson. It is not an attack, it is sincere. Most vocaltechno tracks have lyrics like, Can you feel the love? orsomething. We wanted to avoid that.”

They received some help from Damian Harris, a friendfrom Brighton’s Skint Records, on D.A.N.C.E. He organised achoir of kids in London. Their vocal coach put forward a 17-year-old, her best singer and “a genius”. Justice plumped for“an eight-year-old midget who looked like Macauley Culkin”.How apt for a tribute to Michael Jackson. “The singers weretechnically too perfect.We were in a dining room with all thesekids filing passed singing a weird fast version of our song. Theirskills were actually killing any style and we were thinking ofaborting. Everyone can acquire skills with training, but style issomething you have or you don’t.” The kid they chose, who iscalled Felix, sang slightly out of tune, but fitted. The teacherwas shocked and the others were relegated to Felix’s backingvocalists. “If it was too well done it would have sounded likeMoby. We made the right choice.”

Friday 18 May, London.

It’s just gone 3.30am and in Room 2 of London’s Fabric nightclub, Ed Banger’sPedro Winter is gesturing towards the stage which iscloaked by a black sheet. The crowd are expecting a DJ set fromJustice, but when the sheet is swept aside it reveals Xavier,Gaspard,Valentine and the Marshalls. Genesis, the album’sportentous opener, booms forth and the crucifix flickers on to ahuge cheer. Most of the pop tracks from the album are, perhapswisely, left out of this set in favour of the histrionic Phantom,Stress and Let There Be Light. This may only be their second everlive show, but Justice have already learned what is expected ofthem: noisy, distorted, dance music. The stage diving begins inearnest. Never Be Alone is preceded by the sirens from theKlaxons’ Atlantis To Interzone. James Righton from the bandhappens to be in the audience. He’s here as a fan but soon hetoo is being passed across the hands of the throng towards thewhite light of the crucifix. It feels like some kind of weird,religious ceremony, fans whipped into a froth, offering up theavatar of new rave to sacrifice before their new gods.A few weeks earlier, days before Coachella, I caught Xavierin London for half an hour before he joined Gaspard back inParis. They had just finished six hours of phone interviewsand Xavier was sat in the lobby of a hotel working on the firstpart of the live set from his lap top. I asked what questionsthey were being asked most commonly. Apart from laughingabout an interview with a Japanese magazine where neitherthe journalist or her interpreter seemed to understand a wordthey were saying he said that there were two that kept reappearing.What do you think of new rave and the return ofdance music? and, Are you the new Daft Punk? Justice arefigureheads for a new dance scene they helped create, andmaybe something more – only time will tell. They’ve earnedtheir spurs with two stunning singles and though the album isnot epoch making, it’s exciting enough to cement theirstanding and catholic enough to prove they are no one-trickpony. And how did Xavier answer the questions? “If anyonehad said we might be called the new Daft Punk when westarted out we would have laughed.”